You've Got More Than You Can See

You’ve got resources even you don’t know you have.

Some years ago when I was Director of Development for a Christian College in eastern North Carolina. . .I went to see a successful farmer about a donation.

After giving the farmer my sales pitch about helping others . . . he began to tell me that he had not had a good year financially.  He claimed that the year was even worse than the year before.

I knew something about his financial situation because his daughter attended the college and she was always talking about her Daddy.

For instance, I knew he’d purchased a new truck ($25K), a new Corvette for his wife ($30K), a new car for his daughter ($20K), a new tractor ($45K) and a new combine for harvesting his wheat ($50k). . .so I smiled and recited the lists of things that he’d paid cash for.

I will never forget how serious he was when he said “Yes, I paid cash for all that stuff. . . but I didn’t have any money left over to put in the bank.”

The success of his year was determined by how much money he had in the bank after he’d paid well almost $200,000 in cash for “stuff.”  So in his mind, it had been a bad year.

What conditions have to exist for you to declare your situation to be bad?

For some . . . not making the payment on their Mercedes Benz. . .would be a desperate situation.

For others . . . it might be the reality of your home being foreclosed on because you are three months behind on the payments.

The severity of the disaster depends upon your perspective . . . or what you are, in fact, experiencing.

If there was a single woman in your church and you discovered she and her son are down to their last meal. . .would you consider that a disastrous situation?

How do you view your own unmet needs? 

Regardless, the real question is how does God view our situations?

“And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”  2 Kings 17:12

God sent the prophet to see this widow at Zarephath.   A lesser man of God may have wondered what God was up to when he saw how poor this woman was . . . but Elijah knew God wouldn’t have seen him there if He didn’t have a plan.

When the widow looked around, she thought she was going to die.  The scripture indicates that God had given her an instruction but from her words to Elijah, she had despaired of her answer coming.  Have you ever felt that way?

Child of God, you are about to discover something very powerful in verse 9:

“Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.”  KJV

In the natural, it did not appear that this woman could be the one called to sustain the prophet.

The Amplified Bible says:  “. . .I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”

The New Living Translation says:  “. . .I have instructed a widow there to feed you.”

The New Century Version says:  “. . .I have commanded a widow there to take care of you."

Are you getting this?

Here’s a woman who thinks she is about to have her last meal with her son and then die. The “circumstances” were undoubtedly very real to her. But the “truth” recorded in the Word of God said her purpose was to “sustain” “provide for” “feed” and “take care” of the prophet.

God saw something in her finances that she did not see.  Truthfully, it was probably something Elijah didn’t see with the natural eye but accepted by faith and the direction of the Lord, for 1 Kings 17:13 says:

“And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.”

The prophet gave the widow very specific instructions.  He said:

1.         Fear Not

No doubt the widow was thinking . . .that’s easy for you to say. . .you’re not the one dying here.

2.         Go

Don’t just stand around talking . . .do what God says do!.

3.         Do

Way too many believers spend way too much time talking about what they’re going to do instead of just doing it.

4.         Make me a cake FIRST.

How would you react if you’re down to your last meal and the man of God said, “Stop!  Make me a meal first before you feed yourself and your son.”

5.         Bring it to me

Not only did the prophet want her last cake . . .he had the nerve to tell her to bring it to him.

6.         Make a cake for you and your son

Then he gives her permission to do something for herself and her son. That is, after she’s taken care of the prophet. . .waiting on him hand and foot . . . giving him water and then what she thought was her last meal. . .he now tells her she can make a cake for herself.

This widow woman faced many obstacles that could make her doubt what the man of God said, but she obeyed his instructions anyway.

You may think you’re at the end . . . with nowhere to turn. . .but I doubt that anyone reading this blog has faced the prospect of one last meal with your child before dying.  She was not in a position to beg from others because no one else had anything either due to the famine. 

This widow woman had a choice . . . in the direst of circumstances, she looked beyond her situation and acted in faith on the word given to her by the man of God.  As a result of that obedience she was told “. . .There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!” (1 Kings 17:14 NLT)

If she had not responded “in faith” on “the Word,” things could have easily been different.   There is a spirit of poverty that makes you want to hold onto what you have in fear of that being all there is.

There are some people who are so fearful about getting down to their last dollar that they squeezed George Washington until he begins to cry.

Here’s what the Lord is stirring in me . . .hold on too tightly to what you have and you’ll lose it.

You need to understand how God views your finances and then obey His directions.  You find them in the Book!

No matter what’s in your bank account . . . you must always remember that you’ve got more than you can see.